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Giovanni's Room

Black Girl Magic: A Poetry Anthology

May 17, 2018

In Black Girl Magic, the second volume in the BreakBeats Poets series, the Black girl magic is an undeniable force, igniting the pages and speaking necessary truths. Edited by Mahogany L. Browne, Idrissa Simmonds, and Jamila Woods, the anthologycollects poetry from the canon of Black women. The poets write from a range of intersections within the diaspora. But in each poem, there is that special spark of magic. As Simmonds writes in her introduction: “When a Black woman dares to speak her truth, she redefines understandings of womanhood. Her voice echoes out, disrupting and delegitimizing tired stereotypes and tropes. In short, there is magic.”

Exploring themes from self-love and black beauty to white supremacy and the Trump administration, the poems in this anthology offer what Browne describes as “mantras, praters, and promises of our survival.” The voices collected here provide healing and support for other Black women. The collection is also an opportunity for those who aren’t black and/or woman-identified to listen.